On June 7, 1994, Bob Woodward was interviewed on C-SPAN about The Agenda. The discussion moved to Hillary Clinton, and Woodward said in emphatic tones, “I’d go so far as to say she’s a part of Bill Clinton’s brain.”

That is both the most extreme and the most accurate description of Hillary Clinton that anyone has yet offered. It is the only reason for which Hillary Clinton is a significant American figure. She has been flattered by the feminist movement, which, like New York Times columnist Anna Quindlen, imagines her to have a “great mind.” She has been abused by certain conservatives who, like Richard Nixon, believe that such an intelligent, self-assertive woman turns her husband into a “wimp.” Both those characterizations miss the mark. Hillary is a bright woman lawyer of the kind one sees by the dozens on CNN and C-SPAN, only they have earned their positions while she has married hers. Her actual importance lies in one realm alone. She is known to be a prop to her husband’s mind, and her husband is president of the United States.

To an inordinate degree Hillary Clinton thinks for Bill Clinton.
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Hillary Clinton provides Clinton with certain narrow logical skills of which he is singularly bereft. This does not imply that she is Aristotle, any more than a seeing-eye dog is a cartographer. It implies only that as compared to Clinton, the blazing Bubba, Mrs. Clinton is on speaking terms with logic, and he cannot function without her.
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[Hillary Clinton] is to [Bill] Clinton’s mind what a pacemaker is to a heart. She is, as Woodward says, a part of Bill Clinton’s brain. And she has been so for every millisecond of his political life.

The Clintons have never been able to separate the impulses to help others and to help themselves, turning noble philanthropic ventures into glitzy, costly promos for some future campaign (can you remember a time in human history when a Clinton wasn’t running for office?). And their “Ain’t I Great?!” ethos attracts the rich and powerful with such naked abandon that it ends up compromising whatever moral crusade they happen to have endorsed that month. That the Clinton Global Initiative is alleged to have bought Natalie Portman a first-class ticket for her and her dog to attend an event in 2009 is the tip of the iceberg. More troubling is that businessmen have been able to expand the profile of their companies by working generously alongside the Clinton Foundation.

The cynical might infer from the NYT piece that the Clintons are willing to sell themselves, their image, and even their Foundation’s reputation in exchange for money to finance their personal projects. In Bill’s case, saving the world. In Hillary’s case, maybe, running for president.

The Clintons are populists in the same way that Barack Obama is a Nobel prize winner.

[Hillary Clinton] became recognized because of the achievements of her husband. That has nothing to do with advancing women’s rights. She’s revered? Has that been established?! But let’s assume she’s revered. What does that have to do with advancing women’s rights? Like being the wife of a powerful man, a woman’s being revered isn’t an aspect of female empowerment. The most traditional societies embrace the idea of a woman who inspires reverence, someone who’s good and worthy of respect.
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We just did the symbolic power of electing a black President. Did we overestimate that? I think we did. Isn’t it time for substance and not mere symbolism? We’ve OD’d on symbolism. What are Hillary’s achievements? Lines on a résumé aren’t the same as accomplishments. In fact, when you’ve had powerful positions, the lack of specific achievements is the opposite of inspiring.
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Oh, wouldn’t it be terrible, wouldn’t hope for the world collapse, if Hillary doesn’t win, which would be undermined if there were a “Benghazi surprise”? You mean if we actually found out what happened in Benghazi?!

Remember when The Washington Post made its reputation through investigative reporting, when it worked hard at uncovering what powerful people were trying to hide?